After Han Sui asked Cao's army for help, Wei Kang's troops marched into Qishan. Xiahou Yuan personally led his troops to Chencang and assembled an army of 100,000 to attack Hanzhong.
After encountering obstacles twice at Baoxiade, the morale of Cao's army was slightly low. While he was discussing countermeasures with his generals, a scout came with news that Han Sui had been beheaded by Liu Qi and the entire Western Liang army had been wiped out.
Xiahou Yuan was shocked and furious, and cursed Han Sui for his incompetence. Xiliang was in danger, and the gains and losses in Longyou were related to the safety of Guanzhong. He hurriedly invited the military advisor Xun You from Mei County to discuss the matter.
Xun You said: "Han Sui is dead, Ma Chao will surely revive the army of Xiliang and come back. Longyou cannot afford to lose, we must send troops to support it as soon as possible."
Xiahou Yuan frowned and asked, "If we divide our forces to support Longyou, how can we capture Hanzhong?"
Xun You said: "Yangping Pass is a difficult and difficult place. Hanzhong has Yizhou as its backing, with fine soldiers and abundant food. It is not appropriate to advance. The general should use defense as an attack."
Xiahou Yuan was dissatisfied and asked, "Why do you use defense as an attack?"
Xun You said: "After Han Sui is defeated, Liu Qi will certainly plot against Guanzhong. He will send troops of his own accord. The roads in the Qinling Mountains are difficult, and it is extremely difficult to transport food and grass in and out. The general can guard the key roads, wait for the opportunity to counterattack while resting and tiring."
Han Hao said: "Although this plan of the military advisor is sound, if Ma Chao arrives, Longshang may not be safe. If Liu Qi eats away at us step by step, won't we just sit there and wait for death?"
Xun You said: "Ma Chao will be gone for at least half a year, or at most a year. We can mobilize troops from the Central Plains to support him."
Han Sui frowned and said, "All the troops in the Central Plains are keeping their troops in place. If one move is made, the whole body will be affected. Guan Yu has already been ready to make a move. If we rashly mobilize troops, the situation will be even worse."
Xun You twirled his beard and said nothing. Although Cao's army seemed powerful, it was actually like a stagnant pool of water. He could not think of a solution.
Since Liu Qi's rise, the indomitable Cao army has suffered repeated setbacks, lost battles in Nanyang and Huainan, suffered heavy casualties, and the situation has become very unfavorable.
Xun Yu's whereabouts were unknown, and Cao Cao's troops had marched out of Mobei. He had seen that the two men had long lost their ambitions and were each pursuing their own future.
Cao Cao knew that he had not much time left, so he marched north to conquer the Xianbei just to seek fame, like Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, who would go down in history.
The current situation seems to be in a deadlock. The only way to break the deadlock is for Cao Cao to return to Xuchang and reorganize the three armies.
Xiahou Yuan laughed loudly and said, "Liu Qi, you little brat, only won a small victory over Han Sui. I heard that Zhang Fei was injured and cannot lead the troops. Han Sui's death was not in vain, and Liu Qi lost a general. This is a godsend opportunity. If you don't send troops now, when will you send troops?"
Xun You said: "Zhao Zilong's courage is no less than Zhang Fei's!"
"Why should the military advisor give others the upper hand?" Xiahou Yuan said unhappily, "If Zhao Zilong comes, I will deal with him. The other generals are nothing to worry about! Now the Prime Minister is going to conquer Mobei, and we should share his worries. If we set up defenses everywhere, the generals will lose their fighting spirit and the soldiers will lose their will to fight. How can we conquer the world?"
Xun You advised: "Liu Qi is no longer the same as he was before. The Prime Minister dared not underestimate him in the battle of Nanyang. Please think twice, General."
Xiahou Yuan sneered, "When we were in Nanyang, Liu Qi was just relying on the strategies of Crouching Dragon and Phoenix. Now Zhuge Liang is in Jingzhou and Pang Tong is in Xiliang. With the strategies of military advisors, why should they be afraid of the little Liu Qi?"
Xun You frowned and said, "It's not that I look down on Liu Qi, but this person always does things beyond expectations. Now he doesn't use Xu Shu, stays away from Crouching Dragon and Phoenix, and only keeps Fa Zheng as a military advisor. This person must have something extraordinary."
"Who is Fa Zheng?" Xiahou Yuan sneered, "He is just an exile who escaped from Guanzhong. If he really had the ability, he would have planned for Liu Zhang to trap him to death in Xichuan when Liu Qi took Yizhou, and then defected to Liu Qi. In my opinion, he must be a flatterer and fawning person, so he is not worth worrying about."
Xun You didn't know what Fa Zheng's abilities were, but he felt that Liu Qi would not act rashly in making such an arrangement.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "If the general is determined to send troops, he can set up camp in Jigu and try to deal with Liu Qi. If he is really incompetent and has only a reputation for nothing, the army can take advantage of the victory to attack Hanzhong. If the situation is unfavorable, the army can retreat calmly."
Xiahou Yuan laughed and said, "Military Advisor, you are right. Now that the troops are hesitant to move forward, we urgently need a big victory to boost morale. It is also the time for me to avenge the Xiahou family and restore their reputation. I will make Liu Qi pay double for the humiliation that Zixiao and Yuanrang have suffered!"
Xun You added: "It is also very convenient to send troops from Hanzhong through Chencang Road. We need to make arrangements for defense. We also need to ask Luoyang to send more troops to Chang'an in case of emergency."
Xiahou Yuan told Lin Dao, "I want to order General Han to lead troops to Longyou for support. Chencang needs another person to guard it. Do you have any suitable candidates?"
Sima Guo Huai said: "Hao Zhao from Taiyuan is brave and steady, and is qualified for the job."
Xiahou Yuan was overjoyed and immediately ordered someone to send a letter to Xuchang, transferred Hao Zhao to Chencang, and ordered all troops to prepare food and fodder and advance towards Jigu.
Xun You reminded: "Don't forget to send more troops to Chang'an."
Xiahou Yuan said disdainfully: "I will go to deal with Liu Qi this time. I will advance and not retreat. The Baoxia Road is absolutely safe. With Xu Huang supporting us at Wuzhangyuan and a large number of troops at Chencang, Chang'an will not be in trouble!"
Xun You wanted to persuade him again, but he knew that Xiahou Yuan had a bad temper and saying too much would be counterproductive.
This battle is indeed a matter of advancing and not retreating. If we advance, we can break the deadlock and mobilize the troops from all directions. If we lose, Guanzhong will be difficult to defend. It doesn't seem to have much to do with the number of troops in Chang'an.
At this time, Cao and Liu were equally powerful, and were in a tense period of confrontation. They urgently needed someone to change the situation and turn the tide.
As the saying goes, heroes are made by the times, and perhaps Xiahou Yuan is this person who suddenly appears!
Each general went to prepare. Before leaving, Han Hao discussed with Xiahou Yuan, "The Yang family in Hanzhong is a wealthy and powerful family. Yang Song is extremely greedy and forgets his principles. I have sent someone to contact him. If the general can bribe this person, it may be effective."
Xiahou Yuan frowned and said, "He is in Nanzheng. It is difficult for our army to cross the Qinling Mountains. Every pass is heavily guarded. What use is there for such a villain?"
Han Hao said: "Although Yang Song is useless, we can use his power to send more scouts and spies into Hanzhong to spy on the military situation. If we make good use of him, he will be of great use when the army enters Hanzhong."
Xiahou Yuan asked, "We have lost contact with the spies in Hanzhong in the past two months. This shows that the inspection is very strict. What can this person do to allow the spies to enter and exit?"
Han Hao smiled and said, "General, don't forget that Liu Qi opened an escort agency to support the caravan in order to win over the Hanzhong nobles. Yang Song now has more than 500 men under his command, going in and out of Nanyang and Jiangdong. Wouldn't it be easy to arrange a few people to blend in with them?"
"So that's how it is!" Xiahou Ba suddenly realized, "Don't worry, Yuan Si, I will make arrangements."
The arrangements for various troops had been made. When Hao Zhao arrived in Chencang, Liu Qi also returned to Hanzhong. As expected, he personally led the troops to take Guanzhong from Baoxiade.
The scout reported the news to Liu Qi, who had actually sent Zhao Yun to Chencang Road, leaving Wei Yan and Zhang Fei to guard Hanzhong. He was surprised and asked, "All the generals are out, so who will Liu Qi appoint as the vanguard and who will be the general?"
The scout replied, "Huang Zhong is the vanguard commander, and Yan Yan is in charge of the center army."
"Oh?" Xiahou Yuan was startled, then he laughed loudly and said, "Everyone says Liu Qi is good at employing people. In my opinion, he is just a name in vain. We will definitely win this battle."
Guo Huai asked: "Why do you think so?"
Xiahou Yuan sneered, "I have seen all the generals in Hanzhong, and only Zhao Yun can be a rival. Now Liu Qi has appointed two old soldiers as generals. Isn't this a gift from heaven to me?"